For the second time within ten days Premier Radescu today professed his friendship for the Jews of Rumania in a broadcast over the government radio station. His statements evoked praise from Jewish leader here who emphasized, however, that restoration of Rumanian Jews to their pre-war positions is being carried out very slowly.
In his broadcast the Rumanian Premier said that it was “a great consolation” to him that he has been given the opportunity “to remove all traces of anti-Jewish persecutions of the last regime” and “to inaugurate an ear of democracy and freedom for all”. He mentioned the fact that under the pro-Nazi regime in Rumania he was sent to a “Jewish concentration camp” and confined together with interned Jews.
The position of Premier Radescu has become difficult during the last few days in view of the attacks against him by the National Democratic Front, a coalition of Socialists and Communists. A non-party man, Rodescu has been the head of the Rumanian Cabinet since last December.
The Bucharest radio said today that the General Staff has decided to re-examine all Jewish citizens who were rejected for compulsory labor services during the period when Jews were barred from army service. Persons failing to report, the broadcast said, would automatically be classified as fit for duty. At the same time, it announced that service in labor battalions will be counted as military service.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
